Beneficiaries

Empower and Advance

Empower and Advance is a 501 (c) 3 organization dedicated to empowering members of vulnerable communities. Their current project consists of an innovative curriculum to train secondary school graduates in Haiti to become Emergency Community Healthcare Workers (CHW). In countries like Haiti, there are very few healthcare providers and no basic emergency services. Accidents and emergencies cause a significant amount of needless death and permanent disability. Emergencies are particularly important to address on the global agenda because relatively simple, inexpensive interventions, like splinting or wound care, can make a substantial difference in a person’s life. Most of these interventions do not require a physician, well trained healthcare workers can implement them. This program will help to bridge this gap, provide jobs through a program that is sustainable without external support, and will improve the health of the community. While many people are working in Haiti through various non-profit groups, few programs address emergency services, and even fewer can stand alone, once the initial investment is made. Once the CHW are trained, only 70 cents a year from each community member will sustain the salaries of five CHW, pay for medical supplies and a mobile clinic. The benefits of this program are not limited to emergency care. We envision that Empower and Advance will not only help alleviate the burden of emergency conditions, but also positively impact the economic development of impoverished communities, thus creating a sustainable and applicable model of medical and social change which has relevance to all developing countries.

Village Health Works

Village Health Works (VHW) is an organization that delivers world-class, community-drive medical care and local development initiatives from what has rapidly become the premiere health facility in all of Burundi. To treat the root causes of disease and illness, we couple clinical programs with community development initiatives in response to needs defined by community members. Focus areas include food security, education, livelihood skills, gender-based violence and environmental protection. In the past four years VHW has implemented comprehensive clinical programs and served the needs of over 50,000 patients with programs focusing on HIV, TB, malnutrition and chronic disease. Their clinical programs offers a broad range of services, including primary care, child survival, women’s health, specialty clinics, counseling and inpatient treatment. The heart of their health outreach is a Community Health Worker program. In 2012 they added a state-of-the-art Women’s Health Pavilion and a TB isolation ward. VHW also has several community development initiatives including a Food Security Program and Economic Development programs.